NEWARK, Del. – Playing with boiling intensity driven by urgency, the Towson University men's basketball team rallied past rival Delaware, 64-63 in a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) thriller at the Bob Carpenter Center Saturday night.
Brain Fobbs scored 13 points and
Alex Thomas hit a jumper with 22 seconds left to help Towson erase an 18-point deficit to beat Delaware for a seventh consecutive time.
Tobias Howard had all his 10 points in the second half and Thomas finished with nine points and a season best eight rebounds for Towson, which escaped an inconvenient 37-22 halftime hole to end a six-game skid.
In shooting a season best 69 percent in the second half and showcasing its character, Towson played with boundless energy, determination, passion, confidence and patience. The Tigers missed eight shots over the final 20 minutes.
Quotable
Towson head coach Pat Skerry on the victory.
"Our point guard play was excellent. What can you say about
Alex Thomas? He's playing hurt and to make a game-winner is nice to see. He's been a world class guy since he's been here so I am really proud of him and
Jordan McNeil. They were really mentally tough for us tonight. The players got it done tonight. Hopefully we can build off of this. All nine guys helped us tonight. Not all of them played their best games tonight, but they helped us in crucial areas. I am happy for our guys."
Thomas on the game-winning basket.
"It wasn't for me at first, but T.J. (Howard) told me if I was open, I am going to pass you the ball and I need you to shoot it. He had the confidence in me and I am grateful for that. My teammates continue to encourage me even with the injury and giving me the confidence so I can play as hard as I can. I saw my guy completely turn his head from me. I knew I needed to step into this shot with confidence. I wasn't looking at the time or the shot clock. I told myself to just shoot it with confidence and it was in my favor tonight."
How It Happened
- Delaware's Ryan Allen missed a jumper, grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled with 1.1 seconds to play but missed both free throws.
- Fobbs hit the first of two free throws to trim Towson's deficit to 63-62 with 48 seconds left.
- He missed the second, but Thomas grabbed the offensive rebound and, after the Tigers called timeout, Howard found Thomas for the go-ahead basket.
- Jakigh Dottin, who had six assists, and Thomas combined to score the Tigers' first nine points of the second half.
- Trailing by 15 points at intermission, the Tigers charged out of the locker room by scoring the first six points of the second half as part of a quick 11-1 surge in the first five minutes.
- Jordan McNeil hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring.
- Delaware scored the next 14 points and later used an 8-0 run to open a 37-19 lead with a minute left in the first half.
- Eric Carter had 14 points while Allen and Darian Bryant scored 13 apiece for the Blue Hens.
Inside the Numbers
- According to ESPN's win-probability model, Towson had a 2.2 percent chance of winning when it trailed 37-19.
- Fobbs reached double digits in scoring for the 16th consecutive game.
- This was the ninth game in which Fobbs grabbed at least seven rebounds.
- McNeil has 70 career 3-pointers after making a pair.
- This was the 12th time this season that Howard scored in double figures.
- This was the 13th time this season that Howard made multiple 3-pointers in a game.
- He has scored at least nine points in six straight games.
- Dennis Tunstall's nine rebounds helped the Tigers win the battle of the boards, 37-31.
- Thomas had a season best nine rebounds.
- All nine Tigers scored at least one basket in the second half.
- Towson's defense limited Delaware to 32.1 percent shooting in the second half (9-for-28).
- The last time the Tigers rallied from a deficit of at least 18 points was last year at Drexel in a 94-92 overtime victory on Feb. 8, 2018.
- The last time Towson rallied from a double-digit halftime deficit to win a game was against William & Mary on Feb. 4, 2017. The Tigers trailed, 46-33, before winning 82-80.
- Allen attempted more free throws (10) than the entire Towson squad (seven).
- After shooting 50 percent from 3-point distance in the first half (5-of-10), Delaware made 1-of-10 from beyond the arc in the second half.
Up Next
- Towson returns home to host CAA preseason favorite Northeastern on Thursday, Jan. 24. Tip-off from SECU Arena will be at 7 p.m.
- The Northeastern game will be featured on the CAA Broadcast Package, which will be televised by CBS Sports Digital on CollegeSportsLive.com.
Towson Basketball Offering Complimentary Tickets To Federal Government Employees
- The Towson University basketball teams will offer two complimentary tickets to federal government employees for games on January 24-27 at SECU Arena.
- Tickets will be available for the men's games versus Northeastern on Thursday, Jan. 24 and Hofstra on Saturday, Jan. 26 and women's games against Elon on Friday, Jan. 25 and William & Mary on Sunday, Jan. 27.
- Federal government employees must show their government ID at the Towson Ticket Office located at Gate A to get tickets.
